Indian Overseas Congress UK

The Indian Overseas Congress UK is an organisation of the Indian diaspora in the UK. There are over 1 million Indians in the UK. The educational and economic success of the British Indians is above those of other ethnic groups and the average population standard. The Indian diaspora in the UK is part of Europe, USA, Africa, Asia and Latin America - through the global Indian diaspora and through its family and business connections. They are part of the C21st global citizens.

The Indian government has created a Ministry for Overseas Indian Affairs [http://moia.gov.in/] under the Cabinet Minister Vayalar Ravi.

The Indian diaspora in the UK comprises several categories: British citizens of Indian origin ( from India, East Africa or various other countries), Indian citizens who have the right to permanently settle in the UK as Commonwealth citizens (under various immigration rules) and Indian migrants in the UK. Indian elders are getting younger with the achievements of the youth and India youth are rediscovering pride in their roots, history and elder ancestors.

Formation

The Indian Overseas Congress UK was formed in 1969.

It has a broad membership comprising members of the Indian diaspora.

Modernisation

Recently, the Indian Overseas Congress UK has begun a process of modernisation based on a younger and more professional leadership with strong Congress values of secularism; pluralism and democracy. It has progressive politics predicated on the economic foundations of liberalisation and globalisation of the Indian economy. It favours working with mainstream Western progressive.

This relates to the modernisation of the Indian economy under the leadership of Prime Minister,Dr Manmohan Singh. Equally, it supports the economic strategy of inclusive growth (inclusive of the rural majority and its residential locations of villages) to reach all of India's one billion plus population. Dr Singh is fundamently right - without growth India will get left behind the rest of the world and the rural questions being put forward will not be at all solved. Inclusive growth cannot be based on the state giving handouts to rural areas - but on a new life injected to the countryside through developing new towns and new villages with new technologies and new transport and communications connectivity.

Smt Sonia Gandhi MP President of the Indian National Congress [http://www.aicc.org.in/home.php] is right to take credit for this policy (albeit, it a too reactive a position, falsely painted as counter to Indian economic growth policies). The Indian Overseas Congress UK supports strategic and modernisation plans for Indian agricultural and rural communities as well as the villages. The centrality of the Panchyiat Raj in a collective district or even state level functioning is important for this policy direction. It can also be part of a strategic direction to stop India's mega-cities dysfunctional explosion caused by mega-problems arising from impossible infrastructure tasks, as the countryside is slowly emptied of its educated and best workers who migrate to cities on a massive scale. Progressive politics and modernisation should go hand in hand in the villages, towns and cities of India, according to the Indian Overseas Congress UK.

Current Organisation

It's current President is Atma Singh and its Chairwoman is Lakhabir Bhandal, a progressive and moderniser within UK politics, who supports free trade and private-public partnerships for economic growth. At the same time, he is political and cultural pluralist. He supports inclusive economic growth in India. He support East-West co-operation for mutual growth. He recongises the fundamentally porgressive premise of the 'Asian century' and India's pivotal role in the creation of a democratic world (through a new global movement for people's power across the continents) by renewing and reaffirming its pluralistic politics and developing the fight for individual rights and freedom's in India body politics.

Many of the Officers of the Indian Overseas Congress UK are professionals involved in the modern fields of business, consultancy, policy development, media and new technology. The Indian Overseas Congress UK is diverse in its composition: inclusive of India's religious, linguistic, geographical and caste diversity ( in the process of destroying oppressive caste distinctions). It supports the principle of the equal participation of Asian women in modern politics. It is seeking to include women in its leadership positions and has not yet reached its objectives. However, it has made progress with women holding the positions of Chair, Vice-Chair and Media Consultant.

It is currently engaged in various camapigns:

For Indian doctors not to be subject to expulsion through retropsective legislation [http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/feb/21uk.htm] ;

For Punjabi, Hindi and Gujarati to be included in the UK curriculum [http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/India4Schools/] ;

For Mahatma Gandhi to be awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize [http://www.mkgandhi.org/sarvodayasite/easyboard/easyboard.php?action=view&start=27:] ;

For teaching the philosophy of non-violence in schools in the UK and worldwide;

For Roma to be considered as part of the global Indian diaspora, according to the research of late Dr W R Rishi, a global expert on the Roma and an international linguist;

For saving the Indian Tiger campaign;

For Pakistan-India Friendship on a people to people level as well as bilateral negotiations for peace and 'soft borders';

For India and Indians to be fully represented in the international and public and government sphere;

For the celebration of Indian and Asian history in a similar fashion to the Black History Month including the histories of Indian immigrants in the UK;

For the organisation of the global Indian diaspora;

For securing India's energy security including through the India-US civil nuclear agreement and other measures;

For democracy;

For individual freedoms.